Career and Education Opportunities for Software Engineers in Vancouver, Washington

Vancouver, Washington provides a wide variety of opportunities, both career and educational, for software engineers. The national trend for software engineers sees this job pool growing by about 13.1% over the next eight years. Software engineers generally design and develop solutions to complex applications problems, system administration issues, or network concerns.

A person working as a software engineer can expect to earn about $38 hourly or $79,820 yearly on average in Washington and about $36 per hour or $75,150 annually on average in the U.S. as a whole. Incomes for software engineers are not quite as good as in the overall category of Computer in Washington, and better than the overall Computer category nationally. Jobs in this field include: information architect, requirements engineer, and systems engineer.

The Vancouver area is home to forty-eight schools of higher education, including two within twenty-five miles of Vancouver where you can get a degree as a software engineer. The most common level of education for software engineers is a Bachelor's degree. You can expect to spend about four years training to become a software engineer if you already have a high school diploma.

CAREER DESCRIPTION: Software Engineer

In general, software engineers design and develop solutions to complex applications problems, system administration issues, or network concerns. They also perform systems management and integration functions.

Software engineers furnish advice on project costs or layout changes. They also document layout specifications and other system-related data. Equally important, software engineers have to verify the stability or scalability of system architecture. They are often called upon to complete models and simulations, using manual or automated tools, to analyze or predict system performance under different operating conditions. They are expected to identify system data or software components used to meet user needs. Finally, software engineers collaborate with engineers or software developers to decide on appropriate layout solutions or insure the compatibility of system components.

Every day, software engineers are expected to be able to write clearly and communicate well. They need to listen to and understand others in meetings. It is also important that they read and understand documents and reports.

It is important for software engineers to perform ongoing hardware and software maintenance operations, including installing or upgrading hardware or software. They are often called upon to research or verify proper functioning of software patches and fixes. They also train system users in system operation or maintenance. They are sometimes expected to perform security analyses of developed or packaged software components. Somewhat less frequently, software engineers are also expected to train system users in system operation or maintenance.

They also have to be able to communicate project data through presentations, technical reports or white papers and evaluate current or emerging technologies to consider factors such as cost or usability. And finally, they sometimes have to direct the installation of operating systems, network or application software, or computer or network hardware.

Like many other jobs, software engineers must be able to absorb the factors involved and a problem and provide a well thought out solution and be thorough and dependable.

Similar jobs with educational opportunities in Vancouver include:

Applications Programmer. Develop, create, and modify general computer applications software or specialized utility programs. Analyze user needs and develop software solutions. Design software or customize software for client use with the aim of optimizing operational efficiency. May analyze and design databases within an application area, working individually or coordinating database development as part of a team.

Computer Programmer. Convert project specifications and statements of problems and procedures to detailed logical flow charts for coding into computer language. Develop and write computer programs to store, locate, and retrieve specific documents, data, and information. May program web sites.

Computer Scientist. Conduct research into fundamental computer and information science as theorists, designers, or inventors. Solve or develop solutions to problems in the field of computer hardware and software.

Network Systems and Data Communications Analyst. Analyze, design, and evaluate network systems, such as local area networks (LAN), wide area networks (WAN), Internet, intranet, and other data communications systems. Perform network modeling, analysis, and planning. Research and recommend network and data communications hardware and software. Includes telecommunications specialists who deal with the interfacing of computer and communications equipment. May supervise computer programmers.

Network and Computer Systems Administrator. Install, configure, and support an organization's local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), and Internet system or a segment of a network system. Maintain network hardware and software. Monitor network to ensure network availability to all system users and perform necessary maintenance to support network availability. May supervise other network support and client server specialists and plan, coordinate, and implement network security measures.

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES: Software Engineer Training

University of Portland - Portland, OR

University of Portland, 5000 N Willamette Blvd, Portland, OR 97203-5798. University of Portland is a small university located in Portland, Oregon. It is a private not-for-profit school with primarily 4-year or above programs. It has 3,666 students and an admission rate of 79%. University of Portland has a bachelor's degree program in Computer Engineering.

Portland State University - Portland, OR

Portland State University, 724 SW Harrison, Portland, OR 97201. Portland State University is a large university located in Portland, Oregon. It is a public school with primarily 4-year or above programs. It has 25,959 students and an admission rate of 80%. Portland State University has 3 areas of study related to Software Engineer. They are:

Computer Engineering, bachelor's degree which graduated 12 students in 2008.

Computer Software Engineering, postbaccalaureate certificate and master's degree which graduated two and ten students respectively in 2008.

Biomedical Electronics Technician:
Biomedical electronics technicians are expected to obtain knowledge of the principles of modern biomedical techniques, the proper procedure in the care, handling and maintenance of biomedical equipment and to display an attitude/behavior expected of an electronics technician who works in a hospital or healthcare environment.

Certified Satellite Installer:
Earning a Certified Satellite Installer (CSI) certification means you possess the knowledge and skills essential to a successful satellite technician as defined by experts in the field.

Licensed Penetration Tester:
The licensed penetration tester is a program which trains security professionals to analyze the security posture of a network exhaustively and recommend corrective measures authoritatively.

LOCATION INFORMATION: Vancouver, Washington

Vancouver, Washington photo by Matthiasb

Vancouver is located in Clark County, Washington. It has a population of over 163,186, which has grown by 13.7% in the past ten years. The cost of living index in Vancouver, 98, is near the national average. New single-family homes in Vancouver are priced at $95,700 on average, which is far less than the state average. In 2008, two hundred eighty new homes were built in Vancouver, down from four hundred twenty the previous year.

The three most popular industries for women in Vancouver are health care, educational services, and accommodation and food services. For men, it is construction, computer and electronic products, and accommodation and food services. The average travel time to work is about 23 minutes. More than 21.7% of Vancouver residents have a bachelor's degree, which is lower than the state average. The percentage of residents with a graduate degree, 7.4%, is lower than the state average.

The unemployment rate in Vancouver is 7.8%, which is less than Washington's average of 8.7%.

The percentage of Vancouver residents that are affiliated with a religious congregation, 27.9%, is less than both the national and state average. The most prominent religious groups are the Catholic Church, the LDS (Mormon) Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Vancouver is home to the Vancouver Square and the Vancouver Plaza as well as Leverich Park and Wintler Park. Shopping malls in the area include Arbours Shopping Center, Millport Shopping Center and Vancouver Village Shopping Center. Visitors to Vancouver can choose from Comfort Suites Vancouver, Homewood Suites Portland-Vancouver and Best Western Hotel and Suites Vacouver Mall Dr for temporary stays in the area.